The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1887-11-26
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR Is DUE.
Senator Gibson, the Father of Missis-
sippi River Improvement.
mo. PicaA incl

We published yesterday morning Il
detailed sta atsment (prepared by our
Washington correspondent with The as
sistaDce of the Journal Clerk Of the
House Of Representatives)o Of the efforts
made by Southern and Western men,
and particularly by the congre ssional
delegation Of Louisiana, 10 secure aid
for levees through Federal legislation.
The period covered by this statement
extends from Dec. 10, 1875, to June %,
1879. On the first mentioned Of these
dates Mr.. Gibson submitted the follow
ing resolution, viz: "Resolved, That a
committee OF eleven, to be known as
the Committee on Mississippi Levees,
be added to the committees OF the
house," At that time the Mississippi
levees were broken at many points and
a very considerable nprtion of the
lower Mississippi Valley was subject to
ruinous inundations. The nhabitants
of this afflicted region felt that the
magnitude of the interests involve j
was sufficient to warrant the General
Government in coming to their relief,
and the adoption of the resolution just
quoted seemed to commit the House of
! Representatives to the principle.
| Mr.. Gibson discovered, however, at
ter several abortive attempts had been
made to secure appropriations for the
express and sole purpose of rebuilding
the levees, that the majority in the
house could not be induced to consent
| to the passage of q measure of that
character. The constitutional right of
the house to appropriate money for
levees was deni, d, and though able aud
persistent efforts were made to induce
that body to take q more liberal view
OF the claims of the Mississippi Valley,
1t was found impossible to obtain one
cent from the national treasury for that
purpose. In this extremity it occurred
to Mr.. Gibson that the constitutional
objection would not apply to any
scheme for the Improvement OF the
river ITSELF as navigable highway of
national importance, and that Congress
might consent to the construction OF
Ievees by the General Government rs
subsidiary to that end. Accordingly,
on the 26th of June, 1876, he introduced
. joint resolution authorizing and di-
recttng the President to appoint COM
mission to provide for the Improvement
Of the navigation and commerce of the
Mississippi river. In that resolution
leVees are not mentioned; but on the
4th Of March, 1878, he developed his
plan more explicitly in a bill, which he
introduced on that day, to provide for
commission to supervise the construct.
ION of 'rOrhs to improve the navigation
Of the Mississippi river. Again, on the
SO Of December, 1878, Mr.. Gibson intro
duced bill to improve the river from
the passes near its mouth to its head
waters. AS far back as November, 1877,
he had offered joint resolution, which
was soon afterwards carried, providing
that the Committee on tLevees should
be styled the Committee on Levees and
the Improvement of the Mississippi
River. 1t was from this committee,
with Its jurisdiction thus enlarged, that
Mr.. Robertson reported the commission
bill which was finally passed. That
bill created the present Mississippi
River Commission, and it was substan.
TALLY the bill introduced by Mr.. Gibson
for the Improvement of the river from
its passes to its headwaters.
We have passs d over large number
OF bills introduced by Mr.. Gibson and
Others for the construction of levees
and the protection of alluvial lands,
and have merely indicated the general
history of the plan finally adopted by
CoDgress-the plan under which levees
are built as means of improving the
river, and not ostensibly for the secur-
ity OF riparian proprietors. Mr.. Gibson
was the first to propose that plan in
Congress. Others had contended that
the construction of Ievees would i'm
prove the river, and others had intro
duced bills for the improvement of the
river and the construction of lcvees. !
Those bills had been rejected because |
they provided directly and expressly |
for the protection of private property. |
Mr.. Gibson avoided that stumbling !
block and secured levees as a means !
where they would not be furnished as
an end. Congress held that it had no |
more power to build Ievees than it had |
to make fenses for the benefit of agri-
culturists on the banks of the river;
but the General Government could !
even build fences il it were shown that
fences would improve the navigable-
ness OF the river.
''aonor to whom honor is due" We
have gone into this subject with no
view OF detracting from the just fame OF |
any Louisiana Congressman. The whole !
Louisiana delegation was exceedingly |
anxious to procure Federal aid for the
levees, and at the last they all united |
upon the plan which proved acceptable |
to Congress. But General Gibson con-
ceived the essential idea of the COM
mission bill, and he PERSISTED in urging
its adoption until it became law. His |